Conveyer and bucket therefor.



Patented Aug. 8, I899.

E. S. DECKER.

GONVEYER AND BUCKET THEREFOR.

(Application med July 25, 1895.)

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No. 630,799. Patented Aug. 8, I899. E.- S. DECKER. CONVEYER AND BUCKET THEREFOR.

(Application filed July 25, 1895.) (No Model.) 3 SheetsShaet '2.

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No. 630,799. Patented Aug. 8, I899.

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CONVEYER AND BUCKET THEREFOR.

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STATES PATENT Erica.

EDIVIN S. DECKER, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO TIIE STEEL CABLE ENGINEERING COMPANY, OF MAINE.

CONVEYER AND BUCKET THEREFOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 630,799, dated August 8, 1899.

Application filed July 25, 1895. Serial No. 557,068. (No model.)

If) all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN S. DECKER, of New York, county of New York, and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Conveyors and Buckets Therefor, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying d rawings,is a speci fication, like letters on the drawings representinglike parts.

to This invention has for its object the production of a novel and improved conveyor and bucket therefor, the invention being particularly adapted for use in connection with endless conveyers for handling coal, grain, and the like.

One part of my invention consists in pivotally mounting the bucket or a part thereof to swing about an axis substantially parallel with the direction of travel of the bucket as distinguished from the customary mounting of buckets to swing about axes at right angles to the direction of travel of the buckets.

My invention also comprehends a series of multipart separable buckets, with means for automatically opening the same to discharge the load.

Another feature of my invention consists in the use of a guide-rail to act upon the bucket as the latter passes it and move the said bucket or a part thereof to open the same for the discharge of its contents, there being preferably two of these guides when a twopart separable bucket is used, the two guides acting respectively upon and to move the 5 two parts of the bucket.

Conveyors have been heretofore constructed in which each bucket is provided with an overlapping flange or lip which overreaches the edge of the next adjacent bucket and acts to prevent loss of material between the buckets; but in the use of buckets thus equipped it has been found necessary to tip the buckets when rounding the wheels or guides at the ends of the runs in order that the necessary changing positions of the buckets can take place. My invention comprehends a swinging or pivotally-mounted overlapping device which when necessary changes its position sufficiently to permit the buckets to 0 swing past each other in rounding the ends of the runs, thereby making it necessary to tip or change the positions of the buckets themselves.

In the drawings, Figure 1 in side elevation, partial section, shows a sufficient portion of a conveyor embodying my invention to enable the same to be understood; Fig. 2, an enlarged cross-sectional detail, the section being taken on the dotted line a; 00, Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a top or plan view of the carryingframe, Fig. 2; Fig. 4, a detail showing in plan view the preferred arrangement of opening-guides for the buckets; Fig. 5, a view showing in side elevation a modified embodiment of my invention, and Fig. 6 a detail illustrating another modification to be described. I

In the particular embodiment of my invention herein selected forillustration and shown in the drawings, A A are a series of uprights or supports, to which are secured the tracks or runs a a. In each of the end supports A, only one of which is herein shown, is mounted upon a suitable shaft or pivot Z) the carrying or driving wheel 1), preferably made as a sprocket-wheel, to receive the pivots b which serve as joints connecting the links of the sprocket-chain carrying or connecting the several buckets. There are two of these wheels I) at each end of the run, one wheel for each of the two lines of sprocket-chains, the buckets being suspended between the chains and passing between the wheels, as will be described. The pivots b joining the links of the chain, as herein constructed, also serve as pivots upon which the bucket-frames C are loosely mounted, said bucket-frames preferably (see Fig. 3) being rectangular in shape. Each bucket-frame G has mounted upon it, preferably, four carrying-wheels c 0, there 0 being, as herein shown, two such carryingwheels at each of two opposite sides of the frame, arranged to travel upon the upper sides of the tracks or runs a C6 and support the frames while in transit. To the ends of 5 these bucket-frames O-that is, to the members of the frames which stand at right angles to the direction of travel of the bucketsare hinged or pivoted the members or parts cl d of the buckets D, said parts d 01 being thus I00 adapted to swing for opening and closing about pivots the axes of which stand subdirection of travel of the buckets is that the buckets are thereby prevented from oscillating while in transit, as they are apt to and usually do when mounted to swing about axes at right angles to the direct-ion of travel, for the buckets are rarely, if ever,subjected to any force or action tending to swing them laterallythat is, transversely to the direction of travel-whereas when mounted to swing about axes at right angles to the direction of travel the changing position of the buckets in rising and falling tends to give them oscillating movements which are at times very objectionable.

To open and close the buckets at the proper times, I have herein provided below the lowermost run or track a suitable tracks or rails e, upon which may run the wheels or rollers e on brackets 6 bolted to a frame or carriage 6 carrying the curved guides or guide-rails e, shaped as best shown in Figs. 2 and 4.

The bucket parts or members (Z d are provided at their under sides, as shown, with.

suitable rollers d, which during the travel of the buckets strike at the proper times the diverging and upwardly-curving guides 6 which cause the said rollers to swing the bucket parts d d apart and upwardly, as in dotted lines, Fig. 2, for dumping, the parts at once gravitating to their former closed positions after the high points of these guides are passed. By mounting the carriage 6 upon wheels, as shown, these opening-guides (2 may be shifted along the conveyer into any desired position at which the buckets are to be opened and closed, and by varying the length of the high portions of the guides the period during which the buckets are maintained open may be varied as desired.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention I provide the carriage c with a suit-able hopperf, into and through which the contents of the several buckets are deposited, and which may be and preferably is provided with a suitable gate f, by which it may be closed to cause the hopper to receive and hold the contents of several of the buckets when necessary in shifting the guides or otherwise. Assuming the buckets to be filled and in motion, it is impossible to shift the carriage e audits guides in the direction opposite the travel of the filled buckets without opening the same successively and depositing their contents, and for this purpose the hopper is provided with means for closing its outlet, as

described. To avoid this, however, I have in the present instance provided a second pair of rails e arranged below the rails e, upon which the carriage normally runs, and have provided the rails c with hinged sections e, (shown in dotted lines, Fig. 1,) so that when it is desired to shift the carriage and guides these hinged sections a may drop, to thereby run the carriage upon the lower pair of rails, along which itmay be shifted without in any way acting upon the rollers of the bucket, thereby preventing opening of the buckets during shifting of the carriage.

Gravity is usually suflicient to close the buckets after they have been once opened,

although suitable devices may be employed to assist gravity in its action if found necessary--such, for instance, as illustrated in Fig. 6, where I have shown a holding or closing guide or rail 9 mounted above one or each of the guides or rails e, which holds the rollers on the buckets in contact with the guides or rails 6 and acts to positively close the buckets when the downward run begins.

In Fig. 1, g is a suitable curved guide to assist in holding the buckets in position as they approach the upper level, and it will be understood that usual guides may be provided to direct the movements of the buckets at any point in their travel,as is now commonly done.

Certain features of my inventionfor example, the movable overlapping devices and guides for opening the buckets and dumping the loadare applicable to buckets of other form and constructiomeven though said buckets be hung on transverse pivots, such as is shown in Fig. 5, where the buckets are represented as comprising two members h h, pivoted at h to a suitable frame 7?, the axes of the pivots 7t,however,standingatrightangles to the direction of travel of the buckets. In the construction shown the buckets are connected by an endless rope instead of a chain, as in the former figures of the drawings, and the two parts of the bucket are so connected, as by the toothed sectors h as to cause simultaneous opening or closing of the parts when either one is positively moved for opening or closing. One of the parts is shown provided with a roller 7r, which rides upon the guide or guides 7L5 to cause opening or separation of the parts, as described.

The only difference between. the construction ofFig. 5 and that of Fig. 1 is that in the latter the bucket parts swing about axes parallel with the direction of travel of the buckets and in the former the bucket parts swing about axes at right angles to the travel of the buckets.

To close the space between two adjacent buckets to enable a continuous feed to be used without losing anything between the buckets, I have herein provided the buckets with suitable overlapping devices m, each of which is movably connected, preferably by pivot, with the bucket at one side the space which it is designed to close. For example, in the embodiment of my invention shown each overlapping device m, Fig. 1, is pivotally mounted in a pair of arms or levers m", provided with slots m to receive pins m on the bucket-frame at'the right thereof, the overlapping devices being of suitable shape and construction to close the spaces between adjacent buckets, they being herein shown as diamond in construction and adapted to move upwardly on suitable inclines 1W on the bucket-frames to maintain the same in proper position. XVhen the buckets are rounding the wheels at the ends of the runs, each bucket in rising above the edge of the adjacent bucket simply lifts or pushes back this overlapping device, the latter dropping by gravity to its original position as soon as the buckets have assumed their original or normal positions.

So far as known to me I am the first to construct a bucket to open and close-that is, move for dumping and receiving about an axis or axes parallel with the direction of travel of the bucketso that my-invention in this regard is not limited to any particular construction of device. I am also the first, so far as I am aware, to provide overlapping devices which are movably attached to the buckets at one of their sides to enable them to rise and fall or move as may be necessary to enable the buckets to round the ends of the runs without requiring tipping of the buckets themselves, so that this part of my invention also is not limited to any particular device or means for mounting the same.

So far as I am aware I am the first to pivotally or even movably mount any sort of a guard or overlapping device upon the bucket or its frames. 7

I do not here claim broadly a guard or overlapping device mounted to swing about a fulcrum upon a bucket, its frame, or some part of the conveyer, with movement also toward and from said fulcrum, nor do I claim broadly a guard or overlapping device movably mounted in one or more supporting carriers or members, which latter are themselves movably mounted upon the bucket, its frame, or some part of the conveyer, as the above is claimed broadly in an application filed by Theodore O. Terhune, Serial No. 557,078. I do, however, herein claim broadly a guard or overlapping device movably mounted upon the bucket or its frame, and within the limits of such a claim I further claim various details of construction, some of which are also included within some of the broad claims of the said Terhune application, but none of which are specifically claimed by said Terhune.

Having described my invention and without limiting myself as to details, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. Aplurality of connected multipart buckets the parts of which have relative opening and closing movements about axes lying in the direction of the line of travel of the buckcts, substantially as described.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, a bucket-frame provided at opposite sides with carrying-wheels, a bucket in said frame and having opening and closing movements about axes substantially at right angles with the axes of said carrying-wheels, substantially as described.

3. In an apparatus of the class described, a series of connected multipart buckets, the parts of which are separable in a direction transverse to the direction of travel'of the buckets, and means to act upon the moving buckets to successively open the same, substantially as described.

4. In an apparatus of the class described, a series of connected multipart buckets, the parts of which are separable in a direction transverse to the direction of travel of the buckets, and one or more opening-guides to act upon and successively open said buckets, substantially as described.

5. In an apparatus of the class described, a series of connected buckets, constructed to be moved for discharging about axes substantially parallel with the direction of travel of said buckets, and one or more guides to act upon and successively move for discharging the traveling buckets, substantially as described.

(S. In an apparatus of the class described, a series of bucket-frames, carrying-wheels at opposite sides of each frame, two-part buckets arranged in the respective frames, the parts of each frame arranged to swing one with relation to the other about axes at substantially right angles to the axes of the carrying-wheels for said buckets, and guides arranged to separate the parts of the moving buckets, substantially as described.

7. In an apparatus of the class described, a series of connected buckets combined with overlapping devices closing the openings between adjacent buckets and movably connected with the buckets at one of the sides of the openings which they are arranged to close, substantially as described.

8. In an apparatus of the class described, a plurality of buckets combined with overlapping devices pivotally mounted on said buckets, substantially as described.

9. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a plurality of buckets, of swinging arms on said buckets and overlapping devices mounted on said swinging described.

13. In a conveying apparatus, a series of buckets each pivoted in the direction of its line of travel within a moving frame, whereby oscillation of said buckets in said direction is avoided, substantially as described.

14. In a conveying apparatus, a traveling frame and a divided bucket, the parts whereof are pivoted in said frame parallel with the line of travel, substantially as described.

15. In an apparatus of the class described, a series of connected buckets, respectively provided with one or more movable parts to swing about axes parallel with the direction of travel of the buckets to efi'ect discharge of the latter, substantially as described.

16. In an apparatus of the class described, a series of connected buckets, each having an opening movement for discharging about pivots whose axes are substantially parallel with the line of travel of the buckets, substantially as described.

17. In an apparatus of the class described, a series of connected multipart buckets separable in a direction transverse to the line of travel of the buckets and normally actuated by gravity and held thereby in position clos-' ing the bucket, and means to act upon the .moving buckets and successively open the same for discharge against the gravity tendency to close them, substantially as described.

18. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a bucket, of an overlapping device, one or more carrying-arms therefor pivotally mounted upon the said bucket, said arms being slotted to provide a sliding movement of the same relatively to their pivots, substantially as described.

19. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a plurality of connected buckets adapted to open and close about pivots, the axes of which are substantially parallel with the line of travel of the buckets, and overlapping devices covering the spaces between adjacent buckets and swingingly mounted upon the buckets carrying the same,

' substantially as described.

20. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a plurality of connected buckets restrained against oscillation in the direction of travel of the buckets, and over lapping devices closing the spaces between adjacent buckets and swingingly mounted upon the buckets carrying the same, substantially as described.

21. In a conveyer, the combination with a bucket, of an overlapping device mounted thereupon and adapted to travel therewith, said overlapping device being movable relatively to said bucket, to enable the latter to freely round curves in the run, substantially as described.

22. The combination with thepivoted gravity-buckets and chain connections in an endless conveyer, of shields covering the spaces between the buckets, and supports for connectin g the shields with the chains of the endless conveyer.

23. The combination with the pivoted gravity-buckets and drive connections in an endless conveyer, of shields covering the spaces between 'the buckets, and supports movably connecting the shields with the drive connections of the endless conveyer.

24. The combination with the pivoted gravity-buckets and drive connections in an endless conveyer, of shields covering the spaces between the buckets and freely movable with reference to the buckets to permit shifting of buckets in the turning of corners, and supports for connecting said freely-movable shields with the drive connections of the endless conveyer.

25. The combination with the'pivoted gravity-buckets and drive connections in an endless conveyer, of shields independent o'fthe said buckets and covering the spaces between the same, and connections between the-said shields and the drive connections to cause said shields to travel with the said conveyer.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EDWIN S. DECKER.

\Vitnesses:

FREDERICK L. EMERY, JAMES R. RossMAN. 

